Under the new regulations, when assessing claims relating to supernatural phenomena, a thorough investigation must be carried out to ensure they are not based on fraud or attempts to obtain money.
In the age of social media, there is an increase in cases of supernatural events, often spread through misinformation and rumours.
– It can be read in the report.
Under the new guidelines, bishops generally must grant these cases “nihil obstat” status, meaning that although they do not officially recognize their supernatural status, they do not prohibit them from “worshiping” them either.
The document also outlines five other possible decisions the bishops could take, including rejecting the event altogether or banning certain worship services. In all cases, bishops must obtain Vatican approval before publishing any conclusions.
In exceptional cases, the Pope himself can intervene.
Historically, many reports of supernatural phenomena have been published, but many of them have been refuted. An example is a 2016 case in Italy where a woman claimed that Jesus and Mary appeared to her regularly. It took the local bishop eight years to refute this story.
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